Mega Man X: Command Mission
Mega Man X: Command Mission, known as Rockman X Command Mission (ロックマン, Rokkuman Ekkusu Komando Misshon?) in Japan, is a 2004 spin-off game in the Mega Man X series, released for the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo GameCube consoles. It differs from the mainline X'' games in that it is a turn-based, role-playing game rather than a side-scrolling action platformer game. The story seems to take place somewhere between ''Mega Man X8 and Mega Man Zero. Four new characters were introduced in this game: Spider, Massimo, Marino, and Cinnamon join the trio of X, Zero, and Axl. Artwork and illustrations were done by Ryuji Higurashi. Gameplay The game itself sees a departure from the main Mega Man X series, abandoning many of the old conventions: the side-scrolling action, classic art style, choice of which Maverick boss to fight (aside from a brief portion of the final chapter) and the appearance of Sigma. Instead, the game is set in a completely three-dimensional world, everything is cel-shaded, the path to the end is somewhat linear and Epsilon, an intimidating-looking tank of a Reploid, is the new villain. Characters * Mega Man X * Zero * Axl * Spider * Massimo * Marino * Cinnamon * Nana * Chief R * Gaudile * Mettaurs * Bat Bones * Shadow - He is a Maverick Hunter who defects to the Rebellion Army near the beginning of the game. He reveals himself to be a traitor when he, X and Zero meet up with Epsilon in the Lagrano Ruins. Shadow betrays his comrades to gain access to the Rebellion Army's supra force metal to make himself stronger. * Botos - The first member of Epsilon's Cadre, and the boss of the Vanallia Desert stage. A rotund Reploid that uses jets to hover and move effectively, he is a failed entertainer that joined the Rebellion in pursuit of power. He speaks with a Texan drawl and enjoys taunting foes, but he's also a coward. Botos held the first key to the Supra-Force Metal within a Missile. After Ferham lost to the Hunters, Botos attacked Ferham and mutilated her body in order to obtain the second key. He was later destroyed by Spider, who stole the Supra-Force Metal. * Ferham - She is the second member of Epsilon's Cadre, a lieutenant in the Rebellion forces on Gigantis Island. She is notable for being one of the only female Reploids in the Rebellion forces. Ferham owes much of her look to that of a bird, particularly one of prey. Although she is a combat-capable flight Reploid, she is quite feminine and has a subtle, yet sadistic streak to her. She is intensely loyal to Epsilon and protects him fiercely from X and Zero. The game hints at a romantic connection between her and fellow Cadre member, Scarface. * Scarface - He serves as Epsilon's right-hand man and is the third member of the Cadre. He is unjustly loyal, acting with the honor and pride of a true knight. He fought X and his party twice, being destroyed in the latter fight after painfully proclaiming "Glory to the Rebellion". * Epsilon - Epsilon masterminded the revolt on Gigantis Island, and is the leader of the Rebellion Forces. He was the only Reploid to survive the Supra Force Metal infusion experiments, giving him heightened intelligence and strength capabilities. All other volunteers in the experiment either went maverick, or perished outright. Retaining his sanity, Epsilon realized he could try to reproduce the same results on other Reploids, and thus staged a revolt for Reploid Freedom, believing they could evolve past what humans had made them to be. * Wild Jango - A fast agile bobcat-model Reploid, Wild Jango captured the Central Tower and abducted Chief R in order to halt opposition to the Rebellion. He seemed to have enough clout to be able to promise Rebellion funds to the bounty-hunter Spider. As with many of X's foes, he underestimates the power of the Hunter, though he was sensible enough to try to demolish Central Tower and escape before X came after him. His element is Thunder. * Silver Horn - A large powerful Reploid modeled after a Triceratops, Silver Horn was in charge of controlling the converted mine where the Rebellion stored its prisoners. Sadistic and thoroughly depraved, he enjoyed torturing and murdering his prisoners. He was also responsible for the mutilation and later death of the original Steel Massimo and nearly killed Nana until X and company stopped him. His element is Water (and by extension Ice, evidenced by his freezing "cryogenics" attack). * Dr. Psyche/Mad Nautilus - A humanoid-model scientist Reploid, Dr. Psyche was in charge of convincing Gaudile to join the Rebellion or, failing that, obtaining the Force Metal Generator that Gaudile had developed. After his humanoid body was destroyed, he was able to join up with a nautilus-model battle-body he had hidden in case of such an event, which despite its high defense was also defeated. * Mach Jentra - A swallow-model aerial superiority Reploid, Mach Jentra was in charge of the volcanic factory where the Rebellion produced its Preon-class troops, using the Mechaniloid Duboar. Very haughty and snobbish, he always held an emerald-tipped cane and stood and spoke like a high-class British gentleman. Jentra's element is Fire. * Incentas - was in charge of the lab where the Rebellion conducted experiments with Supra-Force Metals. He was a master of the elements, shifting between them every round of battle to confound his foes as well as launch powerful elemental attacks. He was able to trap the Hunters within his lair, but was destroyed by Spider, lowering the barrier and granting the Hunters escape. His element is Fire. * Duckbill Mole - resides within one of the top floors of the Melda Ore Plant, where the Rebellion has him guarding the "Absolute Zero" armor. They have also granted him the Nagiru D robot that seems to be able to replicate Duckbill Mole's form and abilities. * Depth Dragoon - was the final guard for Colonel Redips in the Far East HQ. Very confident of his abilities, he demanded a duel with X and his friends to see if the stories of the Class-S Hunters were true. Dragoon's appearance was of a seahorse-like humanoid attached at the waist to a serpentine oarfish Reploid. He also seemed to see himself as a dispenser of justice (one of his attacks includes him stating, "The guilty shall be punished!"). His element is Thunder. * Ninetails - (Hidden Boss) - The leader of the Tails clan. Most of the other Tails are stronger versions of past enemies (the only attacks indicating otherwise being Puncture Arrows and the Annihilator Hadoken fireball attack taken from the Street Fighter series, both of which Ninetails can do), and each of the Tails actually has the same nine tail spaces on their back, no matter how many tails are actually there. In addition, he is the only Tails boss Axl gets a DNA attack from, and the Resistance soldier who explains why the area where the Tails are found is off limits says that "apparently a savagely strong prisoner is being held below", hinting towards the idea that there was only one. In either case, he is an immensely powerful reploid imprisoned by the Resistance in a special sealed section of the Tower which requires the Central Key (only obtainable by completing the game previously) to open, indicating possible allegiance to the Rebellion, or some other highly dangerous form of Maverick activity. Instead of normal armaments, Ninetails and his clan/clones utilize a form of robotic chi manipulation, similar to that of human martial arts that allows them the ability to utilize powerful energy attacks and techniques without the need of an outside power source. Story In 22XX AD, a new substance known as Force Metal was extracted from the debris of a small meteorite. Technology based on the metal revolutionized the field of Reploid Engineering. Giga City, an artificial island in the middle of an ocean, was built purposely for the mining and smelting of Force Metal. Everything seemed to go well, until a band of Reploids armed themselves and launched a rebellion on the island. Its leader, Epsilon, was branded a Maverick by the Government, who dispatched a Maverick Hunter team to Giga City to liberate Giga City from his grasp. As X and Zero travel to the ruins, a collapsed pillar separates them. X must then fight his way to a place where he and Zero are reunited. Upon reaching Epsilon's destination, Shadow betrays the team, Epsilon's Cadre appears and knocks Zero away. X has no choice but to escape, and gather a resistance team to assist in defeating the minions of the Liberation army. Trivia *The PS2 version includes an unlockable demo version of Mega Man X8. Furthermore, having a Command Mission save file while in Optic Sunflower's stage in Mega Man X8 will activate a warp before the boss door that will bring the player to an easter egg battle against an 8-Bit Cut Man. This can also be done via a code on the title screen, without the aid of a Command Mission save file. *''Command Mission'' is the first and only game so far in the Mega Man X series that does not feature Sigma (it should be noted however that Sigma's previous English voice actor, Dave Pettitt, performs the role of Epsilon in this game). **It is also the only game in the Mega Man X series that does not feature any Light Capsules, thus making Command Mission the only one in the series to lack an appearance of Dr. Light. *In an early version of the game, X had his usual blue armor with bright colors instead of the new exclusive armor from the final version. *Concept art showed that the original Mega Man and Cut Man were meant to appear in the game in some form, but they both ended up being dropped from the final version. *While Command Mission is not the first game in the franchise to be a role-playing game (Mega Man Battle Network being an action RPG), it was the first (and only) RPG in the X'' series and in the "main" continuity altogether (as the ''Battle Network and Star Force series are set in an entirely separate timeline). *Zero's stage in Onimusha Blade Warriors looks suspiciously like the roof of Central Tower in Giga City after it has been destroyed. *X's Command Mission design appear as his "Premium Costume" in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. Gallery Image:MMXCMShadow.png|''Shadow'' Image:MMXCMBotos.png|''Botos'' Image:MMXCMFerham.png|''Ferham'' Image:MMXCMScarface.png|''Scarface'' Image:MMXCMEpsilon.png|''Epsilon'' Image:MMXCMWildJango.png|''Wild Jango'' Image:MMXCMSilverHorn.png|''Silver Horn'' Image:MMXCMDrPsyche.png|''Dr. Psyche'' Image:MMXCMMachJentra.png|''Mach Jentra'' Image:MMXCMIncentas.png|''Incentas'' Image:MMXCMDepthDragoon.png|''Depth Dragoon'' Image:MMXCMNinetails.png|''Ninetails'' Box art Image:MMXCMJapan.png|''Japan'' Image:MMXCMCoverScan.png|''U.S.'' Image:MMXCMEurope.png|''Europe'' Merchandise Image:MMXCM_OST.png|''Soundtrack'' Image:MMXCMGuidebook.png|''Guidebook'' Image:MMXCMStrategyGuide.png|''Strategy Guide'' External Links * Official Japanese site *Wikipedia article *''Mega Man Knowledge Base'' article Category:Games Category:Mega Man Games Category:Mega Man X Games Category:Role-Playing Games Category:Science Fiction Games Category:Action Games Category:PlayStation 2 Games Category:GameCube Games Category:2004 video games